Woman lacks insurance, needs urgent operation

ROCHESTER — About a year ago, city woman Terri Willard fell while walking on ice. She went for an X-ray and was shocked when doctors found a large mass in her lung.

Willard, 53, now needs urgent surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital to remove six-centimeter mass. But because she has no health insurance, and is not eligible for Medicaid despite a tough financial situation, she has been unable to have the procedure done.

Willard is a nonsmoker, although she has been surrounded by secondhand smoke most of her life. Now, as a worst-case scenario, she may have to get her entire lung removed.

Without health insurance, Willard has been unable to get an appointment at Mass. General for the lung reconstruction surgery. She said local hospitals, such as Wentworth-Douglas and Frisbie Memorial Hospital, are not equipped for the procedure she needs.

Fortunately for Willard, 90 percent of the mass is benign. But according to her surgeon, the procedure can't wait.

“He is stating it is urgent,” she said.

Willard has been without health insurance since 2009 when she lost her job as a medical secretary. Getting health insurance is not affordable for Willard and her husband, who live paycheck-to-paycheck, she said in an interview on Tuesday. Joining her husband's insurance would cost an additional $400 a month, and signing up for insurance in the New Hampshire health insurance exchange under Affordable Care Act would cost $600 a month.

Since the mass was discovered in her lung, Willard has been through “a roller coaster of emotions” due to risk to her health and the high cost of care.

Over several months of tests at Wentworth-Douglas Hospital, Willard has incurred about $40,000 in debt. She believes the much-needed surgery and after-care would cost even more.

In addition, Willard's health costs already reach $300 a month for regular medications, such as for blood pressure.

“We are on the verge of losing our home, our car,” said Willard. “It's a nightmare.”

Even in light of her financial troubles, Willard's application for Medicaid was denied, even after her surgeon wrote a letter to the state of New Hampshire about the urgency of the surgery.

A few months ago, she was told by Department of Health and Human Services that her husband earns too much money for her to be eligible for Medicaid, she said. But according to Willard, she and her husband are not rich; her in-laws, who are almost in their 90s, have spent thousands of dollars to help keep them afloat, she said.

For now Willard is hoping the DHHS will reconsider and accept her application for Medicare. She is also concerned about others who may be in the same situation.